LeBron James Had Blunt Message on State of the Lakers After Christmas Day Loss to Celtics

The star gave an honest assessment of his team after another loss.

The Los Angeles Lakers fell short against the Boston Celtics on Monday evening, as LeBron James failed to overtake former teammate Dwyane Wade for the NBA record for most wins on Christmas Day. 

After the game, James addressed reporters and delivered an honest take on the state of the Lakers, sizing up the team compared to the rest of the NBA’s top squads.

“I don’t think we’re where we wanna be to be able to compete against the top teams,” James said, via Lakers Daily. 

Anthony Davis dropped a game-high 40 points and corralled 13 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to lift the Lakers to victory. James provided just 16 points in the loss, his lowest scoring output on a Christmas Day game in 18 tries.

The loss dropped Los Angeles to 16–15 on the year. The Lakers sit in ninth place in the Western Conference, just a half-game ahead of the No. 10 Golden State Warriors. They’re 7.5 games behind the conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves, though James seems to be concerned that the current roster may not currently have what it takes to make up that ground.